Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Case Studies Homework Essay Example for Free

Case Studies Homework Essay Sally is suffering from a debilitating illness which will eventually rob of her speech and mobility. She has requested that the hospital staff do not resuscitate her if she has a heart attack. This is a limitation on use of restrictions on rights because Sally does not want the right to life anymore if it means that she cannot speak and move without help. A pregnant single woman wants to abort her baby. However, the natural father wants her to keep the child. This freedom of expression as the woman has the rights to her own body and she can say what she wants and decide what she wants to happen to the baby as it is her body. An atheist teacher at a Roman Catholic school feels he has been prevented from gaining promotion due to his religious beliefs. This is a prohibition of discrimination because he should be treat professionally and not any different because of his religious beliefs. An asylum seeker is being threatened with expulsion from the United Kingdom. He is frightened to return to his home country because of threats of detainment or even death. He expressed political views against the government; he knows he won’t get a fair trial. This is against the right to life as his life could be taken away by others. It is also against the prohibition of torture because he could be tortured by others in his home country. Also, it is against the right to a fair trial and no punishment without law because he would not be given a fair trial in his country and be punished without breaking the law.

Monday, August 5, 2019

Management Case Study: Coca Cola Company

Management Case Study: Coca Cola Company Cola-Cola Company Roadmap starts with their mission, which is long-term. It declares their function as a company and serves as the standard against which their weight of action and decisions. The mission of Coca-Cola Company is to refresh the world, to inspire moments of optimism and happiness, to create value and make a difference. Vision Vision serves as the framework for Coca-Cola Company Roadmap and guides every part of the business by describing what they need to achieve in order to continue achieving sustainable quality growth. People, be a large place to work where people are encouraged to be the best they can be. Portfolio, bring to the world a portfolio of excellence beverage brands that expect and persuade peoples desires and needs. Partners, nurture a winning network of customers and suppliers, together they create communal, enduring value. Plane, be a responsible resident that makes a special by helping build and support sustainable communities. Profit, maximize long-term return to shareholder while being aware of their general responsibilities. Productivity, be a highly successful, bend and fast moving organisation. Coca-Cola products Coca-Cola companies have a very narrow products range which are Coca-cola, Sprite and Fanta. Those products are sold in the market with a difference size of bottles which are 250ml, 300ml, 1liter and 1.5liter pet. Working as a Global Team Coca-Cola companies built around two core assets, its brands and its people. Thats what makes working at Coca-Cola so special. They believe that work is a place that the employer need go every day. It should be a place of exploration, creativity, professional growth and interpersonal relationships. Its about being inspired and motivated to achieve extraordinary things. They want people to take pride in their work and in building brands others love. After all, its the combined talents, skills, knowledge, experience and passion of our people that make us who we are. Coca-Cola Company has 92,800 associates around the world live and works in the markets. They serve more than 87 percent of them outside the United State. In the geographically diverse environment, they learn from each market and share those learns quickly. As a result, Coca-Cola Company culture is ever more collaborative. From beverage concept and development to merchandising, Coca-Cola associates are sharing concept across departments and markets in new ways. Consequently, Coca-Cola associates are increasing enthusiastic about their work and inspired to turn plans into action. With a portfolio of more than 3,300 list of product, from diet and regular sparkling beverages to still beverages such as 100 percent fruit juices and fruit drinks, waters, sports and energy drinks, teas and coffees, and milk-and soy-based beverages, Coca-Cola Company variety spans the globe. Management Function PLANNING Definition Planning is the process of setting goals, developing strategic, outlining tasks and then deciding how best to accomplish them. As a result of the planning process, everyone in the organization knows what should be done, who should do it, and how it should be done. It is a detailed programmed regarding future course of action. Plan also a blueprint specifying the resource allocations, schedules, and other actions necessary for attaining goals. It defining goals and then determining the activities and resources required to achieve them. Planning can be difference of type, an organisation can classify some of the important types of plans which are the financial and non financial plans, formal and informal plans, specific and routine plans, strategic and functional plans, long range and short range plans and the last administrative and operational plans. Planning function is important to the managers, managers need to plan so that the worker activities are consistent with the organisatio n goals and the correct type and amount of resources also can be acquired. A planning function requires information, judgment and decision making. Theories According to Dror (1974), he says that planning is the process of preparing a set of decision for action in future, directed at achieving goals. According to Professor Stoner (1997), he says that planning is of establishing objectives and appropriate courses of action before taking action. According to Archibugi (2008), say that planning is a method of making rational decision; a method that is, to some extent, common to many areas. Real Practice For a Coca-Cola company, planning is very important to them because according to Joel Ross and Michael Kami theory, they think that an organisation without the strategy planning is like a ship without a rudder, going around the circle. Its like a tramp that is no place to go to. Strategic planning, implementation and formulation are the core management function. One of the biggest factors for determining whether the organisation performs up to its potential or not is the extent to which the management team performs, the strategy making and strategic implementing function. Coca-Cola organisation thinks that only the good strategic and good implementations are the most trustworthy proof of good management. A strategic plan is the bridge of the future, which an organisation uses to lead from what it is to what it envisions it can become. Planning also can be a future course of action. Planning is concerning itself with look forward into the future and determining the vision, mission and objective of the project or program. Vision is that provides the overall frame of reference within which mission statements are written and goals selected. It also is the desired future state of organization. According to Peter F. Drucker, objectives are essential in all the key areas where performance and results directly contribute to the growth and survival of a business. The vision of the Coca-Cola organisation is to become the best and the biggest anchor bottler in the world. They mission are to refresh the world, to create value and make a difference everywhere they engage. In the Coca-Cola organisation, most of the goals setting and planning activities are handling by the top management. The top manager had set three objectives for the Coca-Cola organisation. The objectives of Coca-Cola can be classified as the strategic goals, tactical goals and operational goals. Strategic goals are statements of what an organisation wish to achieve over the period of the strategic plan likes over the next years, next five years. The strategic goals are considered when company is thinking of the long-term objectives. This strategic goal is set up by the top management with consultation by the parent company head quartered at Singapore. The top managers have to make sure that they are in line with the changing environment that they have to review in the annual meeting every year. This goals is to make sure that Coca-Cola company can continue provide the quality products to the valuable customers, to project an outstanding corporate and try to satisfy the customer through extra ordinary service and an excellent service along with the complete tactical and operational support. The managers also need to select and retain in professional people for the organisation. Another, the tactical goals which are define the outcomes t hat major divisions and departments must achieve for organization to reach its overall goals. The top managers of the Coca-Cola Company on an annual basis devise these goals together with the consultation of the lower level employees. After that, each departmental director have to subdivide the annual tasks on the quarterly or monthly basis to have a proper check to make sure that these objectives are achieved mainly through the marketing after the annual tasks is given. For this year, managers need to ensure that Coca-Cola can increase the revenue by 20% of the compared last year and increase the total retail customer around 10%. They also have to increase the market share by 5% and 30% of the reactivate the discounts of customers. Last, the operational goals which is that the managers set to ensure that each employees can achieve their own goals and told what are expected of them and then they are evaluated on the basis of certain rules and regulations followed evenly by theÂà ‚  company. This operational goals may arise some issue which is some fresh salesman cannot reach their goals so the managers need to ensure that the salesmen can find the new customer, retain existing one and bring back the discontinued accounts by giving them some training. In addition, planning is vital in making management decisions. Decision making is the study of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision maker and it is the process of sufficiently reducing uncertainty and doubt about alternatives to allow a reasonable choice to be made from among them. A bad decision making will have a bad result so a good manager must good in decision making, they have to must sure that every decision they make is good for the organisation. The decision making process in the Coca-Cola company is centralized. There are six step in the decision making of the Coca-Cola company which are recognize need to make decision, generate alternatives, assess the alternatives, choose among alternatives, implement choose and last the learn from feedback. In Coca-Cola company, decision which always takes by the top manager can related to the packaging positioning, trade discounts, advertisement, price reductions and distribution. So as a conclusion of planning, planning is the first tool of the four functions in the management process. It is rightly said Well plan is half done. Compare to the theory and real practice, both of them are concerning with the future action which is how to achieve the organisations goals with those objectives that are setting up by the managers. The difference between a successful and unsuccessful manager lies within the planning procedure. So for me, a successful manager should have a planning skill for achieve the organisations goals. ORGANISING Definition Organising is one of the four managerial functions which focus on allocating and arranging human and non-human resources so that the plans can be carried out successfully. It also means constructing an organisational structure that is compatible for the accomplishment of the agreed purposes, lines of authority, and responsibility defined, and a system of rules and procedures which lead the performance of subordinates lay down. Organising is how the plan will be carried out so the goal is achieve. Once a plan is planned, the next step in the progression is to agree on which individuals will need to be include, who will be in charge, who will keep individuals held responsible, and what resources will be necessitate, who will be in charge for getting those resources, who will keep an eye on the progress? Those phases are all part of the organising process in the project. Hence, organising is next to planning because once the plan is planned, the next natural move in the progressions is to get organised so the plan comes to fruition. Organising is also the talent of receiving people who do not work for you to realise things. As a conclusion, organising refers to the categorising of activities and possessions in a reasonable way. Theories According to Chester I. Barnard (1886-1961), the acceptance theory of authority, which states that people have free will and can choose whether to follow management orders. An order is acceptable if the subordinate understand it, is able to comply with it, and views it as appropriate given goals of the organisation. According to Chester I. Barnard (1888-1961), organization allows people to achieve what they could not achieve as individuals. REAL PRACTISE Base on the basis functional approach, Coca-Cola Company is divided into different departments in the real practice. Individuals who possess the same on the basis of common skills and work activities are grouped together. This method helps the company in attaining the economies of scale through high excellence of problem solving and lesser needs of guidance of the subordinates. Coca-Cola Company is leaded by the General Manager. There are a total of five mainly departments at Coca-Cola Company which are Production department, Industrial Relation department, Sales and Marketing department, Human Resources department, and Finance and Accounting department. Each department has their own functions and responsibility toward the company. Production department is in charge for the overall production of the Coca-Cola Company. Industrial Relations department is in charge for handling with problems connected to the operational surroundings of the staff and the matter linked to the labor unions . Sales and Marketing department is accountable for the producing the goods obtainable in the market and to deal with the problems associated to the advertisements of the goods. Human Resources department is in charge for looking the proficient pool of workers, choosing the professionals and make them pleased so that they should remain faithful to the company. Finance department deals with overall costing and pricing of the goods. They also deal with the trade in correlated concern of the company. Accounting department lend a hand to the sales department in making bill of lading and payroll entries. Example hierarchy of Departmentalisation for Coca-Cola Company: Figure : The departments under the General Manager of Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola Company each executive is made in charge for only a specific role that he or she expertise as the work specialisation is important. Each salesman is encountering different type of individuals as there is no tediousness or repetitiveness. The job is tough and promotions are based on performance. The executive of Coca-Cola Company receives report from the Salesman. These Sales Managers are in charge for the performances of the salesmen which they need to provide them timely comment. Assistances are requiring to be provided by Sales Manager at any time and it is a problem connected to the performance of the staff. The administrators keep an eye on an on-going basis toward these salesmen which serves as an efficient managing mechanism. The staffs have a lot of power, liability and information relative to the job that they are responsibility Nevertheless, every part of the information and authority relative to the work is provided by their individual supervisors. These procedure s are the similar in the other subdivisions as well. Figure Coca-Cola Company each executive is made held responsible for the actions of his or her underlings. An accurate advices and assistance is given at time to time to attain the purpose by the particular executives. Every supervisor is responsible for motivating their juniors so as to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the staffs apart from the delegation. Human Resources department lend a hand staff so they could recognise their potential and uses various technique to encourage them. In return, they offer the most excellent to their supervisor. Thus boost their performance, excellence of work and consumer satisfaction. The span of control is the amount of staff who report directly to a prearranged Coca-Cola Company supervisor. It is most excellent to have a minimum of 3 staff and a maximum of 5 staff reporting to their supervisor. This low pattern is as a result of the actuality that the organisation is a perpendicular and there are various individuals having different works t o do so. When there are more than 5 individuals, it is hard to be managed. Hence when there is an utmost of 5 people, the possessions and staffs still can be supervise in an effective manner. To the extent that resources allocation is concerned, the executives of each department in the Coca-Cola Company have the power to exploit the organisational assets whenever the assets are required for the purposes of their department. Special permission has to be approved by other superintendents if these assets belong to other superintendent. These resources may be capital, work force or other. When there are required positions in Coca-Cola Company and not on reserve basis, employment will be performed. The employment begins whenever a superintendent wants a salesperson. Foremost, it will send to be agreed by the General Manager of Coca-Cola Company before sending it to Human Resource department, HR. Example of the recruitment process: Human Resources department will verify from their Ex-Employers about the behavior and the cause of leaving. If the candidate is selected Education requirements and Screening Of the Personnel Available job are make public within Coca-Cola Company Human Resources department look for its data bank Selection is based on several decisive factors for various titles Aptitude test Example, for salesman Candidate is asked to turn up for an interview Candidate is asked for any references, which can make. If no suitable candidates for a specific profession If no suitable candidates, then publicise in the newspaper Coca-Cola Company If pass the aptitude test Carried out by the sales and Human Resources department Easy mathematics and common knowledge is tested. Familiar with how of English is also essential As a conclusion, an organising is the second function in the managerial functions. When the organization is well organised, it can be said that it is in the best conditions. Compare to the theory and real practice, state that the acceptance theory of authority which states that people have free will and can choose whether to follow management orders. In the real practice, people tend to follow instruction from the person who is higher ranking than them as they do not like to make their own decisions. The other theory stated that the organization allow people to achieve what they would not achieve as individual. However in real practice, people tend to work own their own as they do not wish to share the same authority with other and to prove that they are capable of doing it individually. LEADING Definition Leading means the process of influencing others to engage in work behaviors that would lead to the achievement of goals. It can be said, it is the third function in management. This function has a unique characteristic as compared to other functions, employing the humanistic perspective but require less systematic process for analysis as other functions. A leader must lead his subordinates to achieve goals more efficiency. Due to business environment, leaders are constantly on the change. Today, a manager must be able to make a quick and more accurate decision, either in consensus building or teamwork environment. Leadership is a complex process in which a person influences others to accomplish a mission, task, and objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leadership also can be defined as the ability to influence a group towards the achievement of goals. To lead subordinates successfully, the manager must provide directions and leaders hip to his staffs, to perform the essential task within the required time frame, and with the most efficient use of resources. Leadership theory are include trait theory (leadership idea that try to identify characteristic that differentiated from non- leaders), behavioral theory (identified behaviors that differentiated effective leaders from ineffective leaders) and contingency theory (leaders should be flexible and adjust to change in the environment). In behavioral theory, it include autocratic, democratic and laissez- faire. Theories According to Keith (2002), Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen. According to Tom De Marco (2002), Leadership needs to be distinguished from posturing. According to Bateman-Snell (2004), Leading is the management function that involves the managers efforts to stimulate high performance by employees. Real Practice In Coca-Cola Company, other than the three of management functions, leading is important. The organization places the general manager on the top of the hierarchy. The general manager takes the responsibility of deciding major administrative decisions in accordance to the companys policy and operations. He will not be involved in the operations aspect directly. Departmental managers are tasked with leading and paving the direction for their subordinates. These leaders concentrate on two main parts of the operations. First, being co-ordination with each other in the operations, so as to increase the business volume. Second, employees are encouraged to give new ideas on increasing customer satisfaction. According to Herbert Spencer , that the time times produce the person and not the other way around. Coca-Cola believes they are practicing a democratic and laissez- faire style of leadership which are behavioral theory, through delegation and participation of employees. Since the sales a nd marketing team are dependent on one another, the team management concept is applied. The managers are very supportive of the practice of having subordinates treated in a fair and good manner. Employees are treated as part of the family. By encouraging them to participate in group discussions, using open communication system, employees are not left out in decision makings. So it can let employees always relax whether they are in work and also let them feeling that they are not just employees only come for work. They will feel comfortable as they are friend or a member of family either with superior or workmate. There have an highly open environment. Subordinates can show their opinion and feeling to the manager. Managers also will encourage employees participate to the decision- making so they will become participative so can make use for the group discussion. According to Victor Vroom, in collaboration with Phillip Yetton (1973) and later with Arthur Jago (1988) developed a taxonomy for describing leadership situation, taxonomy that wan use in a normative decision mo del where leadership styles were connected to situational variables, defining which approach was more suitable to which situation. Monetary and non-monetary rewards are used to entice a higher participation, especially from the lower level employees. The company gives high priority to motivate employees, adopting the policy of promoting employees within the company, based on performance, rather than recruiting a new staff. Achievable objectives and targets are set, which enables most employees to achieve and perform well. Paying wages that are higher than the industrys standard is also a part of the motivation plan. There are also various in-house campaigns and competition to stir up employees motivation. Motivated employees, gives important and timely feedbacks, like job or personal problems, which managers could help to solve. To further motivate employees, the company places importance to the working environment and goals achieved. The employees will get the commission if they se ll the products in bulk. The commission is base on the performance basis of subordinated. So, subordinates not only will get the salary but also commission. This can support and motivate employees to work hard and achieve the goals successfully more efficiency. This way is very objective and are perceives achievable by most of employees. Beside that the competition between employees can motivate them, other than this compensation plan also is a motivating factor as paying more than the industry average. A good working environment and a challenging milestone are a most important factor in employees motivation. Managers play a vital role to solve any problems of subordinates whether is job related or personal problem. According to Robert Blake and Jane Mouton in 1941, the five different leadership style of managerial grid model is based on the leaders concern for people and their concern for goal achievement. They also will give employees timely feedback about their unsatisfied. In th e function of leading, communication is a major factor in human relationship. With the contingency theory, the manager will be flexible and adjust to change according to situation. Information sharing among employees is highly encouraged. Top management seeks input and feedback from lower ranking employees, before implementing new company policies. The general manager is accessible to all employees at any time, if they have any grievances or suggestions. Communications between departments can be done formally or informally. The company uses grapevine to get employees view about the management. At Coca-Cola, the top management ensures the culture of the organization, which has its values formally documented and communicated to all employees, is adhered to. To ensure the successful implementation of the rules and values, the top management adopts the lead by example approach, when administering the policies. Employees behavior is reviewed periodically. So, as conclusion for leading, leadership is organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal. To achieve the goal, leadership of manager are important to leading subordinates to exert high level effort for successful. Controlling Definition Every manager whether in small or big firm needs managerial skills to lead the company. The important managerial skills have four important skills which is planning, organizing, leading and controlling or managing. All these skills are related to each other. Without this four skills manager are not being able to lead the employees in order to achieve organization vision, mission and goal. Controlling is once of the important as the organization will not substined without it. Manager need controlling to encourages others employee to be creative, innovative and aware toward their jobs, beside that managers identify any opportunities for change and development to upgrade the quality of employees and also their product, before it drives change the manager scopes and plan it carefully. Other than that manager used controlling to manages other employees through the change process to make sure it run smoothly, manager also must takes account of all stakeholder issues that happen to them to make a clear understanding and try to avoid from occurs problem. Controlling is one of the activities involve in management, controlling also one of the managerial skills. Controlling is the process of regulating activities to achieve organizational goals. Theories Control consists of verifying whether everything occurs in conformity with the plan adopted, the instructions issued, and principles established. Its object is to point out weaknesses and errors in order to rectify them and prevent recurrence. (Henri Fayol 1916) Control is checking current performance against pre-determined standards contained in the plans, with a view to ensure adequate progress and satisfactory performance. (EFL Breach) Controlling is the measurement and correction of performance in order to make sure that enterprise objectives and the plans devised to attain them are accomplished. (Harold Koontz) Management is the profession of control. (Stafford Beer 1970) Real Practice Controlling is done through the evaluation, which is based on the very objective basis. Some criteria are fixed in advance, if these criteria are not met when the employees are asked and evaluated for the reasons and corrective actions are taken by the respective managers. All this is control by manager to make the process run without problem. Different departments have different criteria, different reporting and controlling systems. The reporting, evaluation and control system of sales departments is Sales Persons reporting system and Sales Persons Evaluation System. Controlling is important to manager because manager used it to check the error and made a correction so the deviation standard can be achieved. This managerial skills is been using by the well known beverage soft drink which is the Coca-cola company. Sales Persons reporting system is where the employees give a daily report of his done activities to market developer of his area, sales person also are free to ask for any kind of assistance from the market developer to help him doing the activities. Every sales person will be giving a punch card which will record his arrival and departure time. They also will be given a route card which he must fill out to make sure the details about the time spent of visit the outlet, times during the traveling and it include the names of the loaders and salesperson time in and out of the vehicle. This will make the progress running smoothly and managers are able to control. Apart from this the manager also will inform about the next days order to be loaded in the truck to be deliver, this also will tell the manager the sum of sales by the sales person according to the brand and the size of the product. Sales person evaluation system is which the company help to promote their employees to the higher level of the firm. The evaluation also help to increase salesperson motivation to work hard and get the promotion or the monetary rewards which is given not only to the best seller but it also has been given to the best market developer and also the best sales manager of the year. Performance is measured on the basis of the achievement of the target which is set and communicated at the beginning of the year to each of sales manager, quarter to every each market developer and to each sales person on every month. This performance is evaluated according to the basis of performance development plan, it also development plan to the sales person on the call slips, route call, call completion, effective and productive call, attendance, growth in sales, market development and the punctuality of the salesman. As for the coca-cola company, the manager do organizational performance appraisal on the process which generate valid information about employee work effectiveness for the purpose of making informed human resource decisions. Organization must evaluate employee performance for a number of reasons. First, the employees need to understand the behavioral requirement of the job. Other than that employees work is evaluated for its contributions to company goals. Employees also need to know where they stand with the organization in terms of their performance, they also motivate to do a good job is increased by the performance appraisal system. Valid information about performance levels of employees should be used to make decisions about salary increased, bonuses and training needs. Beside that employees need a clear understanding of what the firm expects from them in terms of performance. The Coca-Cola Company realizes that a good appraisal system makes organizational processes more effecti ve because managers can use the performance appraisal system as a motivational tool. An effective appraisal system creates many opportunity for managers to interact with their subordinates about team performance measures, cycle times, company goals, service quality, and employees career aspiration. If there is no formal and objective performance appraisal system, employees may believe that the firm is unconcerned with treating them fairly, this is why the managerial skills is much important to manager to lead the company and it would not be complete if the manager do not practice all the skills indeed for the company future. Few managers would question the firms need to assess the performance behaviour of its employee. The proces

Support and Charities for Geriatric Patients and the Elderly

Support and Charities for Geriatric Patients and the Elderly INTRODUCION As population age, the body or physical appearance changes, mental, emotional and social aspects of person’s life are also altered. It is inevitable since nobody can live young for a long time. This also mean that an individual is vulnerable to any diseases. Most of the time the elderly people experience a lot of illnesses due to the fact that they cannot perform certain activities like the way they do when they were still young, imbalance or change of hormones especially to women, and loss of appetite or nutritional deficiencies. Some of the geriatric diseases are curable and treatable but there are also palliative cases or end stage. Moreover, the most common health problem among older ones is dementia, specifically Alzheimer’s disease. It causes progressive decline of person’s ability to function. Based on the Alzheimer’s organisation website, this illness is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States, and there are more than 5 million people living with this problem. Whilst according to the Alzheimer’s New Zealand, there are 48, 182 New Zealanders suffer from dementia in the latest statistics (2011). It is 1.1% of the total population of the country excluding those individuals who are not aware, diagnosed and documented. There are more cases of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia recorded among females compared to males. In fact in the US, two thirds of the affected persons are women, and in NZ, 60% or majority of them are females. Healthcare providers play a vital role in supporting demented individuals. Everyone is expected to give his/her best effort and perform the task whole-heartedly including the government. Family’s support is the most important one since blood is thicker than water. No matter how hard the medical team try to treat the patients, it becomes useless if the family is not there and are not willing to take actions. The emotional support is necessary especially to those elderly who are in their early stage of dementia. As a Geriatric Healthcare Specialist at Kindly Residential Care Rest home, I will discuss about the emotional support such as individuals in early stage dementia involved in decision-making. Patient’s suffering from early stage dementia or mild- Alzheimer’s disease can most likely still be able to perform their daily activities and most probably need little assistance with the family, relatives, and support worker. These people including the care recipient will experience certain changes due to the health disease as days go by. It is important that the carer is knowledgeable enough to do the tasks and other related circumstances that goes with the situation effectively, and this includes decision-making. Several barriers have been identified in making decision on behalf of the incapacitated person and these are; having difficulties in deciding what to do and the family member experiencing distress in making a decision, others have lack of information about the situation. Some instance in proxy decision making is lack of emotional support for people with early dementia who still have capacity hinders the discussion of future care options, including placement in residential institutions with 24-hour care. Decision making is always based on the person’s knowledge or education, training, previous experience as well as social and cultural background. Others ask for professional help and information but there are also whom do not. There are many support organisations for geriatric health conditions. I will just give five different associations that are working with the same objective, which is assisting and providing help for the seniors, and to those who need their services. One of the organisations is the Alzheimer’s New Zealand Incorporated, it is a not-for-profit company providing support, additional information, helpful educational programmes and other services that are applicable to the local community. They are working with 21 Alzheimers member organisations located all over the country. In May 2010, they launched the National Dementia strategy at a special function that was attended by the Minister of health Tony Ryall and other important people who are part of the business. There are eight strategic goals; 1. Acknowledge/recognise dementia as a national health priority, 2. Boost the awareness of the society about dementia, 3. Deliver easy access to affordable and proper medical treatment, 4. Better management and diagnosis of dementia, 5. Give suitable services to all dementia patient’s, 6. Provide support to family/whanau/carers of people with dementia, 7. Create a workforce to provide quality care for demented people, 8. Expand the research and the evaluation of dementia practices. This organisation is open for donation since helping to sick individuals cost money, they cannot function without the support of the community. Alzheimers New Zealand conducts a lot of programmes like â€Å"Please remember those who can’t† Countdown 2014 Alzheimers Appeal happening on 30 June to July 2014, and â€Å"Dementia: The future is now† biennial conference at Rotorua Convention centre on 14-15 November 2014. Moreover, heart disease is a serious problem encountered by New Zealanders. There are cases in which patient is required to undergo surgery, some instances could lead to death, and others are under long-term medical treatment. That is why The Stroke Foundation is here to help those affected individuals. It is a non-profit association in New Zealand, and is the only organisation which aims and devoted to reduce the number of stroke, better treatment results, and supports those who are already suffering from heart disease. It is managed by board of directors and the main office is located in Wellington. There are three other regional offices in Auckland (Northern Region), Tauranga (Midland), and Christchurch (Southern Region). The Stroke Foundation of New Zealand has three missions; firstly, is to save more lives. They do this by promoting to the public about the health effects of stroke and other symptoms. An example of the programme is the â€Å"Blood Pressure awareness campaignâ₠¬  which is done yearly in May and happens all over the country with the cooperation of St. John, Foodstuffs supermarkets, and Rotary. F.A.S.T Campaign and Pacific stroke prevention programme are the other projects of Stroke foundation. Secondly, is to improve outcomes. The organisation wants to concentrate on the delivery of health services in order to provide better rehabilitation and acute hospital and treatment outcomes to the patients. They are in the process of making the stroke services in to the international best-practice standard. The organisation does National stroke Guidelines, Audit and report acute and post-acute DHB stroke services, and assists in Clinical networks. Lastly, they want to enhance life after stroke. The Stroke Foundation supports the families of the patients by visiting them to their home or in hospitals, giving advice and help in accessing the carer-relief services and funding. This association also have â€Å"Stroke Clubs† in which people invol ved have the chance to meet others regularly and all over New Zealand. They also conducts certain activities and stroke survivors are encourage to participate. Furthermore, another non-for-profit and at the same time non-government organisation is the Diabetes New Zealand. This association has been established since 1962, and has a triple C vision, Controlled, Cured, and Contained. Their mission is to give the diabetic citizens of New Zealand all the support they need so that they can still enjoy the rest of their lives. It has 20 branches in other areas in the country and the main office is in Wellington. All of the branches are working together and giving the necessities of all diabetics. In order for them to achieve their envision and mission, they increase the public awareness regarding the disease, provide additional information and support to help individuals live well, to specifically give hand to those who are prone to type 2 diabetes and eventually delay the complications of diabetes, to promote improve and better services, and to do more researches about diabetes. Diabetes New Zealand is mainly funded by members’ donations, bequests, grants and fees. It is also a member of the International Diabetes Federation, an organisation for all diabetes consumer groups all over the world. Also, changes in vision is common to elderly people. Some have poor eyesight, others may have more serious problems that could result to blindness, and glaucoma is one those. It is a condition of a group related diseases in which the optic nerve is affected. The nerve fibres continue to die which causes blockage to the peripheral or even side vision. This the leading cause of preventable blindness in New Zealand as well as in other developed countries. Early detection and proper treatment will prevent the community from blindness due to glaucoma. That is why Glaucoma New Zealand was established, and is a registered charitable trust in 2002. They have four aims; to enhance awareness of the public about glaucoma, assist and give knowledge to individuals regarding glaucoma, provide education to the eye health workers to ensure that a high quality of service is given to the clients, and to advocate research into glaucoma. Then, the Cancer Society of New Zealand is a not-for-profit association and is dedicated to reduce the incidence of cancer as well as to give the most care to all New Zealanders. The main office is in Wellington, there are 6 regional offices and 16 cancer centres, and each is providing their own funds and other support services. The organisation’s values are integrity, respect and excellence. Their core services are Health promotion, Support, Information and Resources, and Research. The team encourages the society to have a healthy lifestyle by educating them, providing policy, advocacy, and through communicating with the public. Some of the programmes or topics are Tobacco Control, Skin Cancer Prevention, Nutrition and Physical Activity, Screening and Early detection, and Men’s Health. They also accept volunteers which are devoted to the vision and mission of the association. They mainly rely on the donations, fund-raising activities like Relay for Life and Daffodil da y, bequests, and personal support. There are a lot of service provisions in New Zealand, and I will just discuss six among all the types. Hospice New Zealand is one of those service provisions. It is established to make sure that citizens of New Zealand have an access to quality palliative care. They intent to obtain government funding, establish standards and monitor the facilities at a national level, licensing, yearly inspection of hospices, and giving education and resources. This organisation has five goals; initially is the community engagement, which increases the awareness and understanding of care. Next is leadership, they want to guide the whole country into the right direction and support with the help of other members and sectors. Advocacy is the third goal, to ensure equitable funding and delivery of hospice care. The fourth goal is to develop workforce, they want to have a high palliative care and performing hospice manpower. The fifth and final goal is the quality and standards. This will enable them to improve the quality and standards palliative care for the families, clients and whanau. The vision of Hospice New Zealand is based on the World Health Organisation, which â€Å"intends neither to hasten nor postpone death†. The core values are being Professional, Respectful, Caring, Collaborative, and Honour diversity. Similarly, Public hospitals is another service rendered for New Zealanders. These are manage and owned, or funded by District Health Boards (DHBs). It is made up to provide quality acute care, and guarantee that a lot of individuals are able to access the elective or non-acute services. There are varieties of publicly funded health and disability services right now such as surgical, maternity, medical, emergency, and diagnostic services. Hospital services are provided on a day case and outpatient basis, inpatient, and depends on the type of care needed by the clients. Inpatients are admitted in the hospital for only one day or overnight, day case clients are admitted and are being discharge on the same day, while outpatients go to specialist’s clinic services and are not admitted to hospital. In addition, Residential care in New Zealand is provided by private companies and non- profit organisations. In most cases the cost of care to the individuals is subsidised by government funding known as the Residential Care Subsidy. It includes long-term care, and has four levels of care: rest home care, continuing care (hospital), dementia care, and specialised hospital care (psychogeriatric care). Short-term respite care and convalescent may also provide but do not involve income and asset testing. To be eligible for a government-subsidised residential care must be assessed as â€Å"needing care†. DHBs are responsible for funding residential care services for elderly persons. They also have contracts to other rest homes and hospitals owners, if the client is eligible for government funding through the residential care subsidy, DHBs will decide based on the assessment of a resident. Whether â€Å"high† or â€Å"very high† needs, and it is necessary to send the client to one of the service provisions, and the family or relative cannot be safely cared. Moreover, GP or General Practitioners are one of the healthcare providers who help the residents in dealing with their diseases or situation. GP diagnose and treat the health concerns of the people within the community. Pay depends on the location, hours, and the number of patients they rendered their service. General Practitioners job description are the following: examine and diagnose client’s health problems, perform minor surgery, refer residents/patients to other health services if necessary, prescribe and administer medications, keep medical records and maintain the confidentiality of patients, advise on health care and prevention of illness, and also train and supervise doctors working towards their GP exams. It is essential for them to be great in communicating with the patients, they are knowledgeable about the anatomy and how human body works, and have the knowledge of different diseases, illnesses and injuries. They must update themselves by new research, treatments , and practices. The knowledge of medical ethics and law is very important, and the diagnostic skills. GP’s job is very important since the diagnosis of the patient depends on their assessment. Counsellors are also important in the community. They help individuals in dealing with their personal problems, it could be emotional or financial. They also aid in deciding on what actions they can take to solve problems and create changes in their lives. The professional fees vary and depend on the offer of employer, as well qualifications and experience. It is a vital characteristic for the counsellor to be a good listener, respond, and reflect with clients. Counsellors must also convince their clients to talk and express their feelings about the happening in their life. It is also part of their job to help the patients in understanding themselves, their necessities as well as how to meet their goals. The skills and knowledge that a counsellor must have are: the knowledge of social, cultural issues, and self-care strategies. To be able to understand the human development and relationships, skills in analysing and evaluating human behaviour. This profession is very helpful for the elderly since they experience a lot of changes not only in their physical looks but also emotionally. They need an expert in decision making and an advice from their personal problems. Finally, Dieticians play a vital role in health services when it comes to the seniors. Balance diet and healthy lifestyle is one of the common geriatric problems, that is why dietician is needed to ensure that they are eating nutritional food, preventing and eliminating vices such as smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages. A registered dieticians often seen working in the community like in, hospitals, catering companies, food industry, companies, sports commission, and other non-traditional work settings. This profession is essential in the treatment and prevention of disease in the hospital and other health care facilities. The elderly must eat properly since they are prone to other diseases like skin infection, allergies, skin tears and other related illnesses. Once they are healthy, they can prevent those diseases and can still enjoy the rest of their lives. In conclusion, there are so many geriatric problems like emotional, physical, mental etc. The government and other non-profit associations are working hand and hand in order to eliminate and eventually prolong the lives of the seniors. Emotional support from the family especially in the early stage of having a disease is important for both parties so that they can cope with the problems together. By doing this, the sick individual is not feeling ignored or left behind. Heaps of support services are available nationwide such as Alzheimers New Zealand, Stroke Foundation, Diabetes New Zealand, Glaucoma New Zealand, and Cancer Society of New Zealand. All of these provide an outstanding health services towards residents who badly need help and support from the community. Aside from that, service provisions are necessary to complete the cycle of the health care plan. Examples are hospices, hospitals, residential cares, General practitioners (GP), Counsellors, and Dieticians. All of those h ave their own responsibilities and are experts in caring and giving their best efforts for the betterment of the elderly.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Russias Economic Transition :: Russian History Historical Communism Essays

Russia' Economic Transition In August of 1991, the collapse of the communist system in the USSR and it's neighboring republics occurred. Out of the smoke emerged fifteen new republics and a union known as the Commonwealth of Independent States. These new regimes faced formidable obstacles. The collapse brought massive inflation which in turn forced the economy into a spiraling decline and a state of almost worthless value. Many people were quick to point the finger at their communist past, and even more eager to lay blame. Traditional communist ideology was to "provide for every individual an equal amount of goods and services, thus creating a state of equality amongst the populous" (Leveler, 16). Many people felt as if their current hardships could be blamed on the communists and their economic policies, specifically their "Core-Periphery" plan. The communist sponsored "Core-Periphery" economic policy that was evident in Russia was quite simplistic in nature. The theory, traditionally used to describe inter-continental trading and production, was adapted for use in the Russian economic zones. The theory was as follows; Areas which surround the capital (core region), usually rich in one material or another, would be used for the extraction of raw materials. These materials would then be shipped back to the capital in order to be manufactured into goods. From there, the manufactured products would be shipped back to the surrounding regions (periphery region) for resale. The citizens of Russia were surviving on this system, but barely. The Core-Periphery policy was not efficient, nor effective, for usually a product needed on one side of the federation, was produced at the other end. Factors such as transportation costs and adequate use of human resources was very inefficient and cost-consuming. Strong influences from the world urged Russia to make the transition into the market-oriented economy. This seemed tempting, for the market-oriented economy preached individual wealth and prosperity. Seeing no better solution to their current economic woes, Russian policy-makers took the plunge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By 1995, 4 years since the beginning of the transition into a market- oriented economy, no satisfactory economic improvment had taken form. Productivity in many states such as Turkmenistan and Belarus continued to fall (Table 2), and inflation was still at high levels. Many new Russian capitalists in the regions chose to exploit what had already been exploited in the past; raw materials. Looking to make a fast income, these new Russian capitalists sold whatever they could get their hands on, for practically no cost at all (Co- Existence, 146). Expropriation of state property, shady deals, and corruption were rampant. Productivity in industries such as agriculture declined as farmers did not want to take care of their land (Co-Existence, 146).

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Robertson Davies :: Biography Biographies Essays

Robertson Davies With a vision that reflects the experiences of Canadians, Robertson Davies achieved international renown as one of Canada’s foremost men of letters. Born in Thamesville, Ontario, on August 28, 1813, Robertson Davies was the youngest of three sons of newspaper publisher and Liberal senator William Rupert Davies and his wife, Florence Sheppard McKay Davies. With parents who were theatre enthusiasts, Robertson Davies was drawn to the theatre early in his life and acted in school plays. At the age of five, Davies’ family moved to the small town of Renfrew in the Ottawa Valley; when he was twelve, Davies moved to the city of Kingston, where his father owned the local newspaper, the Whig-Standard. From 1928 to 1932, Robertson Davies attended Toronto’s Upper Canada College – the "Colborne College" of his novels Fifth Business, The Manticore, and What’s Bred in the Bone. Truly, these Ontarian towns shaped the geographical heart of Davies’ fictional works. At the Upper Canada College, young Davies was immersed in school dramatics and was the editor of the school paper. Admitted to Queen’s University in Kingston as a special student because he was "hopeless in mathematics," Robertson Davies excelled at the university from 1932 to 1935. He was active in the Drama Guild at Queen’s and continued to be involved in the student theatre at Balliol College in Oxford. Here, he received his B.Litt. in 1938 for a thesis he published the following year, entitled Shakespeare’s Boy Actors. Upon graduation, Davies joined the prestigious Old Vic Theatre Company in London, where he married its stage manager, his life-long wife Brenda. In 1940, Robertson Davies and his wife returned to Canada, where Davies became literary editor of Saturday Live, then a weekly review of politics, finance, and the arts. The first of his three daughters was born that December. In 1942, Davies became editor of the Peterborough Examiner – another of his father’s papers – and he was to hold this post for the next twenty years. Davies became an increasingly popular columnist, "Samuel Marchbanks," whose witty comments and humorous accounts of small-town American and Canadian life would later be published in three volumes between 1947 and 1967. From 1955 to 1965, Davies was the publisher of Examiner. By this time, he had already written eighteen books, numerous plays, and produced many articles for various journals. His first play, Eros at Breakfast won the 1948 Dominion Drama Festival Award for best Canadian play.

Friday, August 2, 2019

Oil Refinery and Norwegian Petroleum Directorate

Chartek 59, marketed the world’s first intumescent epoxy material, is a production from the Apollo Program conducted by NASA, in which spacecraft was tested in every aspect to ensure that the astronauts and the spacecraft themselves can withstand the harsh condition of space and the extremely high temperatures of re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. The material is used in the heat shield of the Apollo. When re-entering, the shield will burn because of the high temperature due to friction. However, Chartek chars, dissipates heat through burn-off and creates a protective coating which prevents the heat from penetrating anywhere further than the outer surface of the spacecraft, keeping the inside cabin at a comfortable temperature of 21oC. When exposing to high temperature heat or flame, Chartek expands in volume, acting as an insulating barriers. Although there is not yet any serious fire accident reflecting its quality, Chartek is considered an effective material used in modern fireproofing systems, based on the results of tests on stability, integrity and insulation conducted by the Underwritten Laboratories (UL) and Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD). The following table shows some comparison fire endurance times for various composite panels. The black bar shows 60 minutes for the time endurance of a Chartek-coated panel, which is relatively long. It is constantly improved and recently has been marketed out in form of intumescent paints and foams; its innovations are critical fire-proofing materials in such industrial facilities as oil refineries, petrochemical plants, as well as in commercial infrastructures and such public buildings as schools, hospitals, airports and shopping malls. Chartek and one of its innovations, Interchar, contribute largely to the development of safer workplace and public buildings. In normal condition, Chartek coating provides a resilient and smooth finish to the exposed steel structure. In emergency fire events, the materials offer longer time of fire protection, slowing down the process of collapsing and providing more time for the building occupants to evacuate safely. The use of Chartek in fireproofing systems significantly benefits the economy. The infrastructures are so effectively protected in fire events that the cost of repairing the buildings is greatly reduced. The material also acts as a corrosion protection layer, increasing the durability of the inner material, which can save a great deal of money on maintaining the buildings in good condition. In addition, human damage and injury payment can be considerably cut down since the workplace is much safer. Some of Chartek innovations, such as Chartek 3, Chartek 7 and Chartek 1709, are used in the fire-proofing systems of offshore structures as in the oil refinery platform of Norwegian Petroleum Directorate and Caltex Lytton refinery in Brisbane, Australia.

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Pepsi Refresh Project Essay

1. Should the Pepsi brand team continue to fund Pepsi Refresh Project in 2011? Pepsi brand team should keep this Refresh project for maintaining and strengthen Pepsi’s brand position in soda market. The Pepsi Refresh Project is a first-of-its-kind initiative, positioning as a consumer brand, and directly respond to the evolving needs of consumers and their preferred methods of communication such as facebook, twitter, blog, and etc. The program effectively changed the way brands talk to consumers, leveraging the power of digital and marketing platforms, moving away from traditional marketing methods. Rather than spending hundreds, thousands of dollars advertising ‘Pepsi’ on media, we believe that Pepsi ought to relegate that money to create more valuable contents with refresh project, which can lead to deeper engagement and strong relationship between Pepsi and customers. The Refresh project could be evaluated by the level of engagement between the brand and consumers, social ROI and brand-equity results. By these evaluations and study, Pepsi Refresh Project program showed that consumers felt Pepsi was a brand that cares about the community. And also the program was a strong fit with their perception of Pepsi as a frontier of idea bank about social issues, and innovative brand. It did not generate the result as an ‘increasing of sales revenue’, but still it is valuable because consumers that may be able to remind about the Pepsi Refresh Project when choosing a cola ‘Pepsi’. Social network that Pepsi developed includes the largest engaged fan base of any beverage company active in US. And these fans are not only potential customers for purchasing Pepsi’s product, but also could be friendly allied customers when Pepsi shrinks. In addition, these evaluations and study showed both how Refresh project could be enormously successful and not successful. When Pepsi launched it and pulled out of the Super Bowl advertising, which they never missed for last 23 years, customers lost their mind, because watching a Pepsi’s  advertisement during the Super Bowl is part of the cultural experience of the game. It showed the power of making a big commitment to these causes. People really responded and said Pepsi is a good company by Refresh project, but at the same time, obviously, sales didn’t rise up. The people who got excited and voted and posted were often not Pepsi drinkers. It showed that the Refresh project was not related to what they really have meant for; it’s really hard to get something good to help Pepsi’s real purpose at the same time. Eventually, Pepsi’s market share has been crashed down on 3rd from the second position after pulled out of 2010 Super Bowl advertising. Nonetheless, because of building brand equity doesn’t translate into an immediate ROI, they should keep their Refresh project in 2011, treating as a big brand investment. But in the end, this Refresh project should be formatted some different way to be linked to sales in consumers’ mind in 2011. 2. If the Pepsi team continues to fund Pepsi Refresh in 2011, what changes would you make to the program to better achieve the brand’s objectives? Refresh project has benefited from notable customer’s interest from being the first mover of a radical approach. While innovative, Pepsi has some missed opportunities. For an instance, Pepsi missed opportunity to integrate Super Bowl TV advertising with Refresh campaign and to spur word-of-mouth chatter about its Refresh initiative. Pepsi’s biggest misstep was putting all its eggs in one basket and not benefiting from synergies of multiple media channels. From 2011, Pepsi should have relegated an appropriate amount of TV advertising budget to Pepsi Refresh for encouraging submitting ideas, voting and sharing their goals. In addition, Pepsi needs to believe in optimism and the power of people and their ideas to make better understanding what the Pepsi brand could be. Pepsi has been at the center of great cultural shifts across many generations. From 2011, Pepsi has to continue to measure success through its brand health metrics. By doubling the number of grants, Pepsi can extend their social impact to more individuals and communities. Since Pepsi Refresh  Project helped increased key brand health metrics in 2010, Pepsi needs to anticipate deeper consumer engagement and more user conversation through refresheverything.com site as well as the Pepsi challenge and power voting. Interaction with the campaign’s website may significantly increase brand attributes including favorability, intent and trust along with intent to purchase among millennials. For example, posting as ‘if you purchase Pepsi, you support the Pepsi Refresh Project’ on every Pepsi’s websites, blogs, and other digital social network windows and pages, it would make even deeper connection between Pepsi brands and consumers. 3. Should Pepsi advertise the Pepsi Refresh Project on the 2011 Super Bowl? We conclude that Pepsi should advertise commercials on the 2011 Super bowl with brilliant ideas and creativities as they had been done for last 23 years rather than focusing on arousing public opinions by Refresh project. Pepsi’s Refresh project is still good investment for their brand as well as to arouse people’s interest, but not on sales. First of all, the Pepsi Refresh Project did not directly contribute to sales increase of Pepsi. Pepsi’s top management was confused with the concept of brand and the sales. Although the Pepsi Refresh Project might have improved the brand image of the soda maker, however consumers lost touch with Pepsi commercials which led to the steep decrease of Pepsi sales. Brian Charneski, a representative of sixteen independent bottlers in the Pacific North west, expressed concern: â€Å"People feel good about the Pepsi Refresh Project and I think it’s neat, but it doesn’t translate to I’m going to buy a Pepsi.† Second, the Pepsi Refresh Project failed to attract the main target customers. Their original target customer were millennials(age 17 ~ 27) who were not as familiar with Pepsi as Boomers(age 41 ~ 60) or Generation Xers(age 28~ 40), but who have the great potential to consume Pepsi for the next couples of years. However, when we analyze Pepsi Refresh Project Voters breakdown, number of votes from Boomers and Generation Xers exceed that of millennials against Pepsi’s expectation. When we also look at Grantee Breakdown, non-profits organization grantees exceed individuals, which means  that the Refresh project program wasn’t directly attracting the right customers- both idea submitters and voters. This is neutral fact; however, non-profits organization grantees neither guarantee that they will spend a certain portion of Pepsi nor it will give rise to drink more Pepsi even though investing a lot of effort to advertise that Pepsi is taking care of consumers’ health. Third, Pepsi do not underestimate the importance of traditional media programs rather than social media programs. Although Pepsi put a great amount of money to social media programs, most consumers cared more about coupons and grantees rather than Pepsi’s original purpose that the on-line consumers are encouraged to blog about Pepsi’s efforts to increase awareness of their causes. Besides, consumers who took part in the Pepsi Refresh Project on-line stayed at the Pepsi website less than four minutes on the average. However, the traditional media people think about the effective and fun method which can foster the sales of Pepsi once they make a contract with Pepsi. Besides, the influence of traditional media on consumers is still effective. Lastly, Super Bowl’s influence on Americans and the whole world is gigantic. Super Bowl is not only a great Sports game, but also a great festival where people make happy memories with their friends, family and colleagues. The Super Bowl is a preeminent advertising arena, bringing in 100 million viewers anticipating the debut of new advertising during the game. Thirty-second advertising spots cost $2.5 to $ 3 million, and Pepsi had spent $143 million on Super Bowl advertising between 1999 and 2008. Consumers were deeply attached to Pepsi’s appearing in the Super Bowl, viewing it as part of the cultural experience of the game. People expect a fun and brilliant commercial than dull and serious ads such as the Pepsi Refresh Project on a Super Bowl. Actually Pepsi went back to their original commercial tradition, so they put three commercials Pepsi max: Love Hurts, First Date, and Torpedo Cooler. 4. Supplements 1. 2011 Super bowl Advertisement – Pepsi Max: Love Hurts (www.youtube.com/watch?v=deS6x0BLZrY‎) – Pepsi Max: First Date (www.youtube.com/watch?v=YalrseH-rB8) – Pepsi Max: Torpedo Cooler (www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ltgsp7QwKU‎) 2. Stock Market Price-earnings Ratio / Coca Cola & PepsiCo / 2009-current